10 Ways to Burn Hundreds of Extra Calories This Week

Published by Assistant on January 30, 2018

In order to lose weight, you need to burn calories. Getting in exercise is essential, but if you follow these tips, your body will burn even more calories.

1. Move in the Morning

Here's a little motivation for you: research has shown that morning exercisers tend to work out harder and longer than afternoon or evening exercisers, which translates to more calories burned. Getting in a morning workout also ensures that you get it done and don't make excuses to skip out.

2. Lift This

While cardio burns calories, strength training builds muscle. Your body burns calories just to maintain muscle, so the more you have, the more calories you'll burn. Aim to strength train two to four times per week, and don't be afraid to lift heavy!

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3. Pick Up the Pace

When doing your cardio workout, whether it be running, cycling, or swimming, include speed intervals to boost your calorie burn. Short sprints followed by slower recovery periods will help you lose weight faster compared to steady-state cardio. They force your muscles to work harder without adequate oxygen, a process you may have heard about called anaerobic conditioning.

Your muscles end up using more energy and grow bigger, and bigger muscles increase your fat-burning potential. As a bonus, intervals have also proved to diminish belly fat. Here's a 30-minute interval treadmill workout.

4. Do an Extra 10

If you're already working out, tack on an extra 10 minutes — depending on the workout, you can end up burning an extra 50 to 100 calories! Or commit to doing a 10-minute workout video every morning or night. After one week, you'll burn an extra 400 calories.

5. Sip on This

Studies show that drinking green tea or matcha can speed up your metabolism, which burns extra calories. Aim for no more than two to three teacups a day. If you're not into hot tea, make this matcha smoothie.

6. Stand Up!

If you work at a desk, consider getting a standing desk. You'll burn 240 extra calories by standing instead of sitting. Taking a stand can also decrease your risk of different diseases, including cancer and type 2 diabetes.

7. Cup of Joe, Then Sweat

Grab a cup of coffee or caffeinated tea, such as green, before your next workout. Exercise scientist Nicole Aurigemma, MS physiology at Women's Health and Exercise Lab at Penn State, says that caffeine can boost your performance, making you work harder, resulting in more calories burned.

Coffee and green tea also contain bioactive compounds that "have been shown to increase metabolic rate and fat oxidation, which leads to an overall increase in energy expenditure — meaning more calories are burned — at rest and after exercise."

8. Don't Be Shy With the Hot Sauce

Whether you add Frank's to your sandwiches or hot peppers to your stir-fry, the compound capsaicin is known to boost your metabolism.

9. Swing This

While lifting dumbbells and barbells is an awesome way to build muscle, kettlebell workouts combine weight training with cardio for double the burn! A study by the American Council on Exercise found that the average person burns 400 calories in 20 minutes when doing kettlebell exercises! Try this 20-minute kettlebell workout.

10. Get Busy!

Getting intimate in the bedroom for 30 minutes burns 69 calories. That may not seem like much, but every little bit counts! If you have sex three times a week, that's an extra 207 calories burned — it's way more fun than hitting the treadmill!

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